WPIAL basketball: Perry leads Aliquippa girls

Chuck Curti

Saturday

Feb 19, 2011 at 12:01 AMFeb 19, 2011 at 11:54 PM

COLLIER TWP. - With a wag of her finger and a wave of her hand, Daniya Perry directs the Aliquippa offense. Perry rarely changes her expression and often appears to be moving in slow motion as she handles the ball.

That's exactly what the Quips need.

Perry, a senior, scored only five points in Aliquippa's 67-54 win over Chartiers-Houston in a Class A first-round playoff game Saturday. Her contributions, however, are not measured in mere points. It was evident that every time she went to the bench - most of her time sitting Saturday was because of foul trouble - the Quips were out of synch.

"Everybody sees that, and everybody knows it," coach Jackie Sims said. "She's a big part of it. She just goes about business the way she's supposed to, what I look for in a senior."

With Perry sitting out with four fouls, Chartiers-Houston trimmed a 12-point third-quarter deficit to seven in the first minute of the fourth quarter. Sensing the momentum was starting to shift, Sims gambled and brought Perry back onto the floor.

Here's what she did:

Had two steals, tipped a ball off a Buccaneer ballhandler and out of bounds, called a timeout without Sims' prompting when the Quips were having trouble inbounding the ball, grabbed a rebound, blocked a shot and made a pair of free throws.

Not coincidentally, Aliquippa's lead swelled back to double figures, where it stayed to the final buzzer.

"She controls the floor," said junior Nakira Emerson, who led all scorers with 25 points. "When she's in, it's just automatic. All of our minds are set because she controls everything."

Perry admitted afterward her grace under pressure wasn't something that came naturally.

"I've learned that I have to stay calm, because if I do bad, they do bad," she said. "They tend to get crazy for a little bit as you watched today. But I was just staying calm and keeping everybody together."

Aliquippa (21-2) advances to face North Catholic next Saturday at a site and time to be determined. North Catholic (16-7) rolled by Sewickley Academy, 62-20, Saturday.

If the Quips want to keep going, they'll need to get off to a better start than they did against Chartiers-Houston. They led by just two at the end of a sluggish first quarter before opening up a double-digit lead in the second quarter.